There has always been a bit of a gap between Social Media & Selling through Social Media. Too many in the industry, to do both together is somewhat a bit of a taboo. But as Social Networks grow and flourish with users (Customers), businesses must learn to adapt to this market and have the ability to be able to not only use these platforms as a form of communication, but to monetize them.

Many people will read the above paragraph and think, “Social Media is not for sales” and simply not read on. However, we are fast entering a phase of Social Media where Social Commerce will become just as important as the media itself. Look around, we are already moving into a world where Mobile Wallets are being used, Social Media data is used for targeted advertising and big players like Amazon, Facebook and Google have implemented their own commerce facilities.

Recently, I was invited (and happily accepted) to participate in the beta release of a new Social Commerce Platform, called community engine.

What struck me first about this platform was the beauty of all being about me. If I wanted to follow a business, I would see its offers and notices. This has a deep connection with consumers such as myself, because frankly, I tune out to all the white noise online and only watch, listen, see, read and engage with the content that is relevant to me.

Coming from the world of Social Media & operating a Social Media company, I have used many platforms in my day to day activities. My phone has 32 Social Media related apps that I use at least once per day for both business and pleasure. But community engine seems to link all the pieces of the puzzle together in a perfect symphony that appeals to every one of my Social Media Receptors as a Consumer and a small business owner.

For the small business side – I am able to create my own piece of real estate on community engine and explain everything about my business. Surely this feature is available on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ but it is only on community engine that you are able to integrate this with a sense of Community amongst other businesses in your network. Be that current stakeholders or new invitees!

In fact you can build a community from scratch around your business, by creating the space and sending out invites. There is no intrusive ‘adding to a group’ feature like Facebook, or the constant begging of people to follow your business profile like that on LinkedIn. A simple email is delivered to the recipient and if it is in line with their interest, they accept and become part of your Community.

Think that none of your customers will want to visit yet another Social Platform? Here is where community engine has made it very simple. Import your existing mailing lists / database into community engine and the invite is sent automatically to them.  Such simplicity derives such beauty in the connections we need to make but struggle to find the time to do so in our daily activities.

community engine is not like a Facebook page where you can leave a post and your fans have to visit the page or see the post in the active news feed to interact with. No. community engine offers a real-time communication network with your community, your members through the usage of the noticeboard and newswire.

The newswire behaves like a status feed of all your connections recommendations and posts – be that news, a special offer or a notice. The left hand column provides a chronological history of real social qualitative data that your network has communicated – this ticks the first box because it reduces the white noise of everything else you really do not want to read about. The right hand column still gently reminds us that we are part of a network of businesses that have products / services we are interested in – deals, offers and promotions in an easy to digest presentation.

The Noticeboard, which behaves much like a Pinterest exploration tab, gives the user an overall easy to scan view of all the output the communities they follow have shared on community engine. This helps me as a time limited business owner to review visually the right information I need to make that engagement possible. No fluff, no time wasting.

To make this platform even more social, each business can claim their own business (most are already preloaded for you) and use the platform to customise their profiles, message, receive feedback and obtain recommendations from customers, in addition to the general social media buttons we have grown custom too (‘Like’ & ‘Recommend’). This completes the circle of Social Interaction between business and Customer. A direct social channel to help all forms of communication is now open through the community engine Platform.

And if you think all this has nothing to do with Social Commerce – community engine once again integrates the perfect facilitation of transactions between business and customer. The platform contains an online payment facility driving the customer to purchase from the business (through community engine) with the click of a few buttons. In the past many companies have struggled to obtain a merchant facility that can help drive this revenue back from the digital platforms into the ledger books. In fact attempting to obtain a merchant facility can prove to be bigger than Ben Hur these days. But the community engine platform has just revolutionised this with one quick step that when linked to offers and promotions. These purchases are based on offers directly created by the business and not based around the terms of a deals conglomerate (e.g. expiry date, limitations) with the intent on making a quick dollar.

Sure these might be a special offer, but as they are not created to be sold on mass, they won’t create a negative experience. If a business has a special deal to place, it places it directly, and within a 1 week turnaround time, Community Engine facilitates a smooth payment transition between business & customers. Goodbye Groupon. Hello respectful Social Commerce.

Thus there are many features that businesses can use on the community engine platform that help make life for business owners, in one word, simple. Yes as a business owner, it’s my favourite word to hear on a daily basis too.

As a consumer, I can tell you that these features are so in line with what I want. I don’t want to be harassed by business in any way, shape or form. This includes my Social Media newsfeeds being flooded with constant invaluable information or selling from companies. I don’t want to have to go through a middle man such as the Daily Deals companies where I may or may not receive the end product with ridiculous clauses and restrictions. I don’t want to have to scroll through a never ending feed of jargon that doesn’t apply to me.

I simply want to glance over the things I’m interested in, have special offers capture my attention, communicate with the communities I’m interested in (on my own terms) and use Social Media in my own way. After all, this is also my piece of digital real estate. I am your customer, but I am not just another statistic on your social metrics.

Speaking as a Social Media professional and as an everyday customer, community engine offers an extraordinary experience that feels respectful of my needs and wants. It has bridged the gap between Social Media, Social Commerce and the customer in a way that allows Social Media to be used as a selling tool without having to do the selling.

Most importantly for me, it opens up the doors to small business owners around the country to a new tool that allows them to harness the power of Social Media to something more than a communication channel. And teaches our customers that they are the biggest influencers and assets our businesses will always have.

Simple.

As always, Share + Enjoy.

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This morning Facebook finally announced its IPO for $5 Billion. After about 8 years since its creation, almost 800 million members and changing the way humans communicate forever, Mark Zuckerberg has decided to take his baby and unleash it to the markets.

So big was the news, it crashed the SEC website in the States, and the topic immediately started trending on Twitter.

But what does this mean closer to home here in Australia? Well, us Australian’s seem to be some of the highest Facebook users in the world, with Gizmodo reporting that between 8 – 10 million users are ‘active’ in Australia. That’s a large portion of our population (approx. 36% - 45%) and this number is growing. We also spend lots of time on Facebook, clocking up approx. 7 hours and 19 minutes per month recorded in April 2010. This number will have surely grown since then, as we seem to be using Facebook more in 2012. So it is safe to assume that anything this IPO brings down the track, will impact a large and active audience here in Australia.

However, it won’t be the impact of the Mega Social Network on our daily social media usage, but rather the downstream effect this IPO has on our up and coming generations – of which only know the technological way of living.

Mark Zuckerberg has now created an array of billionaires and every Gen Y Social Tech Geek will now be influenced by his actions today. Young up and coming entrepreneurs dream of achieving the Zuckerberg success and today’s IPO hype will only fuel that fire which drives an entrepreneur into wanting to create the next big thing.

The Australian economy and environment is perfectly situated for this boom, with lots of exciting and potentially huge start-ups already popping up around the technology hubs of its Capital cities. For perfect examples look at Big Commerce, Annitel & SurfStitch – all of which have been growing in the hundreds % range.

The Facebook IPO will now trigger a wave of young and inspired Entrepreneurs to build, design, develop and collaborate on new projects that will seize the technology opportunity and help flourish these garage-based start-ups into powerful entities that too will one day trade on the Australian Stock Exchange.

No longer are there limitations on funding and starting up a business. Start-up costs have been severely reduced with outsourced services that Start-Ups can now utilise – such as Cloud Based Services, Start-Up Incubators, Social Media and Mobile technology (Did I mention that Australian’s also have a very high Smartphone penetration rate?!)

Thus, the combination of the Aussie culture to work hard and make something of yourself, the low barriers to market entry now available, the high level of usage of emerging technologies and the drive to build a company not driven by money is the perfectly flammable environment for young up and coming entrepreneurs to start their own conglomerate. And Mark Zuckerberg just lit the first match to get that fire burning.

As always, Share + Enjoy

Let’s Connect:

Twitter: @cosmicrami

Google+: Rami Mandow

LinkedIn: Rami Mandow

Tumblr: CosmicRami

Do you remember the old water cooler? How about the ciggy break? And the kitchen-coffee conversation that lasted 10mins? And recently the reading of the paper online whilst you had your breakfast at your desk?

Ever since the dawn of time, well, the dawn of office culture, politics, teams and organisations people have always taken a few minutes of their working time here and there to catch up on their social activities.

Let’s face it, we are social creatures. We love to interact, understand, question and collaborate. There is nothing wrong with that. It’s what gives us variety and makes us stand out from the rest of the mammalian herds.

As time has rolled on, nothing has changed. Well things slightly have. Technology has. We still have those conversations, but now we are doing them digitally. We use our smartphones and tablets. We use our social networks and blogs. The infrastructure has shifted, the human aspect has not.

Recently I was featured in a Sydney Morning Herald article about employees using social networks whilst at work. A few topics were raised in the article as to what employers could do when it comes to Social Media and their employees during working hours.

Lots of employers resent the fact that their employees are spending time not working. A common concern I hear in my Social Media Training classes from C-Level and Executive Level members is that this new technology is driving unproductive, unmotivated and disengaged staff.

My response, always the same: Give them the tools, and this will work for you.

Here are 6 ways that Employers could utilise Social Media tools, behaviours and platforms to their own advantage with their staff:

Build a Wiki and Crowdsource Ideas
 We’re all familiar with the brainstorming concept. But taking this concept and making it digital can be a powerful tool for employees. The solution is simple. Take the concept of Wikipedia, and build a platform where all documentation are added, edited and peer reviewed by the crowd – the employees. Staff members will flock towards their topics of interest, and contribute to what they are truly enthusiastic about.

But why stop there? Ideas are the true driver in business behind innovation, creation and possible success. Look at the Google Employment Model as a prime example. By building a wiki, employees can submit their ideas (replacing the tired ‘suggestion box’) and have other employees peer-review the idea. Soon a culture of peer-editing on the ideas and ironing out all the crinkles can occur. If a user-generated rating system is then also implemented, employers can wait for the top ranking ideas, pick the low hanging fruit and implement these ideas.

Build an Internal Social Network; create a Social Media Policy
In the absence of allowing employees to access their social media platforms, employers should at the very least build the framework for an internal social network. Employees should then create their own profiles, upload their own images, links and content into the site. Employers should crowdsource from employees to build a mutual Social Media policy for this internal social network. Then let the employees organically grow the network, self-police and utilise the power of communication within the network (e.g. File sharing, Link Sharing, Instant Messenger etc.)This will not only reduce the volume of email communication internally, but indirectly reduce the volume of printed material and increase turnaround times as emails tend to get left behind in email inboxes.

 
Foster a Mobile Web Environment
Most of the staff in any organisation will own a smartphone with a large portion also owning a tablet. Employees should use these tools to build their own gatherings within the organisation to contribute towards a common goal. Employees could hold a session about job appreciation in their department over lunch time. Employees could participate in a social gaming session as a de-stress. Employees could contribute towards the building of an app for the company. All these ideas involve the usage of smartphones and tablets, and help foster a mobile web friendly environment.

On top of this, events, training sessions, conferences etc. can all utilise the rapidly booming geo-location and check-in features to help spread to their external networks that they are participating in Employer events, promoting the organisation as a well-regarded place to work for.

Post a blog about your company, become a subject matter expert
Each employee contributes their part to the organisation. Each employee is a potential subject matter expert in their field. Thus, each employee should be able to write their own blog and distribute towards an internal / external network. This allows employees to step up and shine in what they do best, helps build their profile within the company and also by posting to external networks this increases the employee’s chances of being recognised for their work in the organisation when applying for jobs externally, as recruiters now search social media platforms for any information about candidates.
 
By creating an ongoing blog, employees contribute towards their portfolio and CV both internally and externally.
 
Shared Platforms
Employees now utilise of different media to communicate their message. Mediums such as photo sharing, video sharing, linked sharing and blog sharing is an approach that employees can collectively take to build up an organisations profile. As employees use smartphones they can create real-time content for an organisation wanting to capture a range of different media. Organisations will be required to build the platform or use existing platforms, like Flickr, YouTube or Tumblr to allow this organic collaboration of work to thrive and grow. Once again, a review and moderation process will be required but this can be built within the employee crowd sourced Social Media policy.

In conclusion, employers need not fear the usage of Social Media in their workplaces. Remember, staff are people and people are social creatures. Why stand in the way of blocking all this social interaction, when every organisation can use it to its advantage. Build the Social tools they need, and watch employees continue to socialise, only this time, whilst still completing their work.

Let’s Connect:

Twitter: @cosmicrami

Google+: Rami Mandow

LinkedIn: Rami Mandow

Tumblr: CosmicRami

Today I woke to the news that a Victorian girl’s grammar school has banned a young girl from taking her girlfriend to her school formal. That this girl was told by teachers that as it is an all girl’s school, she would have to bring a boy, regardless of her sexual orientation. Recently in the United States, 5 gay teenage men took their life because they were bullied for being gay, or suspected of being gay.

The year? 2010. Yes, that’s right, even after the first decade of the 21^st century, these events deplorably occur. Sadly, these events are not isolated. These horrible things happen all over the world, daily.

However, recently there has been a wave of support and public opinion on these matters, a message of hope and direction for youths going through these heavy ordeals. That message is being spread virally across the world with the assistance of Social Media.

Social Media has given us the ability to connect with our role models like sports stars, celebrities and idols in a way the world has never seen before. These influencers in our life can speak to us all directly by posting a video, comment or status update that directly streams into our lives, and the amazing ability to interact on a new scale.

Social Media and Social Networking has also given us and our youths a voice on a global scale. We can now share our thoughts to everyone who is in or connected to our network.

I grew up in a South Western Sydney school previous to the internet boom of ’96. I too am a gay man, and during my years in high school was picked on for being smaller, weaker and often taunted with accusations of being gay (I would never have dared come out in High School, as I did fear for my life and that of my younger brother’s a few grades below me)

I know what it feels like to be different, isolated and alienated from the rest of the pack. I know that being different was looked at as being weird, being wrong and how these small indirect admission by other students, slowly eat and chip away at your self esteem and self confidence.

Often I thought, maybe it would be easier for everyone if I was gone. I would think about how to do it, have a plan, but I could never go through with suicide. And I’m so happy I never did, because Life as I know it…. well, it got better. It really did.

I have a great group of friends, and after school, when I came out I ended up being the cool kid on the block. I ended up going from the freak to the guy everyone wanted to hang out with. And it’s been that great since! Not because I’m gay, but because of the people we choose to keep in our lives, people that love, respect and care for us, without judging us, making us feel like we are outcasts or making us feel like we don’t belong. The bullies and negative people disappear and you enjoy great times with people who love and care for you.

What I didn’t have was the internet and all of my social media that I could turn to. The youth of today have a multitude of tools to use to help them get through tough times, like the one I experienced above. In no way am I saying they are more advantaged, because no bullying victim is advantaged, but the youth of today have a way of expressing their voices to a global audience.

Demographics show that between 90% - 100% of teens (14 – 18 years old) own and use a Facebook and Twitter account daily, and upload and watch more video on YouTube. The same age bracket also use more instant messaging services than they do with email. Studying the generational differences and uses of Social Networking platforms, teens tend to express more freely what their current feelings and moods are through Social Networks, rather than through a councillor or to family members. Why? Because it’s easier to talk to a computer, and hope someone is listening than have to talk to a real person. Because we are more connected these days online than we are offline in some respect. And we can also spread our messages to many different people, simultaneously through our Social Networks.

In the wake of the 5 gay suicides in the USA, The Trevor Project (http://www.thetrevorproject.org/) kick started a global campaign. A 24 hour toll free service to help any gay youth thinking about committing the unthinkable, to rethink and choose life.  The Trevor project has nailed the usage of Social Media in their efforts, by offering an online question/answer resource called “Dear Trevor”; “Trevor Chat” a free online messaging service and “TrevorSpace” – an online social networking community for LGBTQ youths.

This amazing project has drawn out celebrities, government officials, multi-national corporation employees to name a few, and has started to build the momentum of change on this issue. Bullying will not be tolerated or accepted, let alone bullying due to sexual orientation.

I’m not going to sit here and play the blame game (Schools, Parents, Churches, Anti-Equality Laws etc.). I am however going to tell you that when our youths start to think that Suicide is the only way out for being gay, then we all need to band together and start to do something.

We can March and Protest, and this is great but that doesn’t stop the problem. We can write to our government officials, school teachers and support groups, which helps push the message from a top down approach, but what about helping the problem from a bottom up approach?

So all I ask from all of you, avid Social Networkers and Social Media users around, is to Listen.

Just listen to your News Streams, Listen to the posts / comments your youths are placing on their Social Networks, and look for the warning signs. We have been through it and can recognise the signs. These poor little guys are in a world of confusion, and won’t know how to tell you. But their raw emotions will show it.

Use your Social Media profiles to lend an ear to a youth who may be going through a tough time, and intervene. Suicide is an epidemic in our Society, one that unfortunately continues to grow with strength. If this were the flu, the world would have mobilised to stop the outbreak, so let’s work together to stop this from getting any worse.

No parent should have to bury their child, and no child should miss out on a lifetime of opportunity because of gay bullying. Teenage years are hard enough with pressures of school, growing up and fitting in as it is, why should we also start to include sexual orientation as an outcast.

One thing I will be lobbying for and ask for all your Social Media help, support and voices is for Governments around the world to start focusing on shifting some funds into developing Social Media Contact Centres. Working with such organisations such as Twenty10 (http://www.twenty10.org.au/); ACON (http://www.acon.org.au/); Headspace (http://www.headspace.org.au); Lifeline (http://www.lifeline.org.au/) and Reachout (http://au.reachout.com/), we could all collectively build a round-the-clock Social Media service for any youth who wants to chat through their Facebook and Twitter accounts. It’s obvious the youth of today are using these tools, so let’s be there for them, online when they need us most.

If you are a parent and are reading this, teach your children tolerance and acceptance. Changes that begin in the home, can last a lifetime. At the end of the day, this could be your child, which hasn’t come out yet.

If you are a LGBTQ teenager and are reading this, hang in there.  Don’t hold your emotions & feelings in. Express them, tell someone, share it on your Facebook / Twitter wall, make a YouTube Video about how you feel, and just get it out of your head. Below I’ve listed a number of Australian hotlines and twitter accounts you can contact if you wish to speak to someone.

So let’s all use Social Media together to change the world, and make it a much better and brighter place for our gay youths. Life is great, and it just keeps getting better and better and better in this gay man’s point of view….

Support Services Contact Info

Twenty10

Twitter: @Twenty10    Facebook: Coming Soon!     Phone: 02 8594 9555

ACON

Twitter: @ACONHEALTH  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aconhealth

Phone: 02 9206 2000

Headspace

Twitter: @headspace_aus Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/headspace

Phone: 03 9207 0100

LifeLine

Twitter: @LifelineAust Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lifeline

Phone: 13 11 14

Reachout

Twitter: @ReachOut_AUS Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ReachOutAUS

Phone: 1800 551 800